Catamaran Park-Bishop’s Falls
Distance: 70km
Riding time: 3h4min
We met Willie and his sister Helen today. For our team, it’s hard to see that this disease has taken so much away from a man and his family, his speech, mobility, social life, job, and hobbies. Sitting at the picnic table at the campground, wearing the Spinning Wheels Relay T-shirt, asking questions, and making jokes, he became part of the team, and I can feel joy rising from his heart. He made our day, and I truly believe we made his, too.
Parkinson’s is a strange chronic disease. Piece by piece over years, it tears apart your identity in life, the identity you have been working hard building for decades; it steals your hobbies and passion, the things you care about, your pride and joy; it drags you away from social gatherings, away from friends, family and communities. Every day, you ask yourself: Am I still able? Am I still capable? Am I still relevant? Am I still lovable? Am I still worthy? Do I still belong?
For a period of my life that felt like eternity, when I couldn’t work, couldn’t walk, couldn’t stand, couldn’t sit, couldn’t write, couldn’t read, couldn’t breathe, and lying down didn’t relieve any tension, I surrendered to the disease and was about to give up hope. I stayed isolated and was suffering every day. I understand Willie and many others who retrieve from their lives because I was there, sitting in the darkness, crying .
Role models and inspiration bring light into darkness. Bill Bucklew, my role model and mentor, greatly changed the way I see life with Parkinson’s. He used to be a runner who ran marathons and competed in ironman, but with the progression of the disease, he couldn’t run anymore, he decided that he could walk, so he walked across the US to raise awareness of parkinson’s, now he couldn’t walk, he started cycling, and a month ago we just cycled across America. He said if one day cycling became too much for him, he would kayak. There is always something you can do, you just need to find it and do it constantly.
Like Willie, reach out and get support. You will find a community with beautiful people. You are not alone anymore.
